In the early history of the Catholic Church, it did have married priests. It did want to make sure that its priests could handle the married life without scandals, so it made a rule it would keep ordaining married men only after they have reached a certain age (35, or so, I do not remember the exact number). If you were younger, you could still be ordained but only if you were not married (and the Catholic Church has always believed one cannot get married after the ordination). With time, there were fewer and fewer men willing to wait till that age, so eventually most, perhaps all, ordinations were of unmarried men. That was still their choice.

But then the Church changed its law and decided not to ordain married men no matter what their age.

As I said, I love children and wanted my own. I was in love several times. I would have willingly waited till the age of 35. But I did not have that choice.